Page 12 of Meet Me at the Fudge Shop

Brandon cleared his throat. “So what did your boss say, anyway?”

A breeze blew through the stately trees in the residential front lawns as they passed Rose Road, rustling the leaves and creating a cadence he always forgot when he returned to Chicago. Out here, a man could think—both a good and a bad thing, depending on the circumstances.

“Exactly what I expected. That he’d see if the guy I’m replacing can put off his retirement for a few extra weeks, but if I stay longer than four or five weeks, he can’t guarantee he will hold my job. He wouldn’t guarantee it either way, said that if a new prospect comes up and he could get them in sooner…”

“Sorry, man. That stinks. I know how hard you worked to land it.”

Declan shrugged as they turned down Poppy Place. “It’s what you do for family, right?”

“Your mom’s guilt worked, huh?”

He shook his head. “Let’s just say that I do this and maybe I fix…well, maybe things get better.”

Silence. Then, “You’re a good man, cuz. The family knows that.”

“Whatever. You’re a better man than me.” A former adventure guide at the MacBride Resort, Brandon had only left the island out of sheer necessity, taking a job leading hiking tours at the Grand Canyon and surrounding northern Arizona trails. But Declan knew he worried constantly about his mom, Jill, who had always taken good care of Brandon, despite having him alone at the age of twenty. He’d move back here in a heartbeat if a viable job ever opened up.

“How’s your vacation going?” Declan glanced toward Grandma’s house as they walked by. The white paint of the three-bedroom bungalow with a small porch popped against the lavender trim.

“Not bad. I’ve gotten in some good hiking, helped Mom out a bit in the coffee shop.” He glanced at him. “By the way, I moved my stuff to Grandma’s. Figured it would be good to have someone with her right now.”

“You beat me to it. I was going to volunteer.” It would have been so much better than staying with his parents.

“No need.”

“Her yard looks good.”

“Yeah, Isaac and I did some work on Grandma’s lawn today. We mowed, trimmed the trees, that kind of thing. Got it cleaned up since Frank and Patrick have been busy with the town revitalization stuff.”

“Wait. Isaac? As in,my younger brother, Isaac?”

Brandon laughed. “The very one.”

“How’d you get him to do more than sit around and play video games?”

“Aw, he’s not the kid you left behind. Besides, I threatened to beat him up.”

Declan snorted. “No you didn’t. No one threatens Mom’s baby—even when he’s twenty-two years old with a beard.”

“You know your mom made him start taking some shifts at the café, right?”

“Seriously? Good.”

“She might be regretting it, though. The other day I stopped in and he was just standing there watching a sports game on the TV, moving his rag around an already clean table. For like five minutes. Lost in thought.”

“He was always a dreamer. Used to take apart radios and try and create gadgets with them. Never put them back together.” They passed Uncle Patrick and Aunt Whitney’s house and approached the well-lit, two-story house where Declan had grown up. The lawn was perfectly manicured, the weeds all pulled, the garden blooming full and brilliant under the front window, and though many houses in this older neighborhood looked weatherworn—a common occurrence given their proximity to constant wind coming off the lake shore—there wasn’t an inch of peeling paint to be seen.

Perfect. Just the way Mom liked it.

Brandon grabbed the suitcase handle and took it up the front porch stairs. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

As his cousin opened the front door, waves of sound rushed out. The television, broadcasting the evening news. A triumphant shout of “I won!” mingled with groans.

And then there was the all-familiar bickering of his parents.

He followed his cousin into the foyer of the home and the smell rushed over him—the garlic and basil of his mother’s lasagna, the scent of pasta boiling, and maybe the deep comfort of baked chocolate cookies. His mom’s diner wasn’t the most popular eating establishment on the island for nothing.

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